Friday, May 22, 2015

SOUR MILK SMELL IN THE CAR

I have worked for 25 years or more in Auto industry and have
come across many customer complaints of “sour milk” like smell from their
vehicle’s air-conditioning unit. No one knew the real reason and we resorted to
many methods to overcome them. From interior cleaning, steam treatment,
cleaning/replacing the evaporator coil/filters, adding perfume and others
stuffs to suppress the smell. We even tried leaving chunks of charcoal under
the seat.

I have since left the industry and have used many cars –
never had this experience until recently. My new car after about 3 month of use
is showing symptoms of this smell. My previous cars did not have it. What I
stumbled upon was entirely unexpected. I found out that the “prime suspect” of
this smell to be the tinting done on the car, although I do not have sufficient
facts to “charge”. And it is not with any kind of tinting, it is specially from
tinting that has an incorrect or unbalanced of UV filtration against permissible
solar energy into the cabin that does not help in killing some germs.

Resulting from our perspiration and skin dust that discharged
in the cabin, it makes way into the air conditioner. The evaporator coil is wet
all the time, even long after we have switched off the car creating a perfect environment
for the microbes to live and even mutate. It seems to correlate with the
percentage of UV filtration vs. solar energy that inhibits the elimination of
these microbes.

The main forms of ultraviolet light that reaches us from the
sun are called ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB). These are the same
wavelengths of light that are used for medical therapies. Ultraviolet light
causes changes in cell DNA leading to cell damage and possible cell mutations
that can turn a normal skin cell into a cancerous one. As we know, UVB rays are
those responsible for sunburn. UVA rays penetrate skin more deeply, and it's
increasingly recognized that they also set the stage for skin cancer
development. UVA is the predominant type of ultraviolet light that comes from
tanning beds.

In the same manner and effect, we need to let some UV enter
our car when we are not in it. It helps eliminate the microbes that we leave
behind before it gets into evaporator coil. I have branded cars with 7 stage
cabin air filters, plasma clusters and carbon filters. But some of these cars
suffer the same issue.

To be certain of this theory, I am going to remove the RM2k
tinting on my car and observe, if there are changes. Pending which, I seek
cooperation from all the Tinting producers not to file a law suit.

What a discovery after being in the automotive industries
for so many years, the clue came just after I retire.